Common Snipe.

[keith mitchell]

Nikon D4
Nikon 300ml 2.8
1/500@f6.3 iso 640.

Resting Snipe with a Bg of buttercups, its funny with these birds which I usually take from my car sometimes you can't get anywhere near them then you get one like this that you have a job to get any movement at all.

thanks for looking.
Keith.

[Randy Stout]

Keith:

I like the balance of the masses here. Cute tucked in pose, glad the eye is open. Soft BG.

I would consider a version with the rock slightly less bright, just to downplay its visual impact a bit.

Cheers

Randy

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Keith, amazing BKG, you are so lucky to have such obliging subjects to pose against such 'clean & natural' backdrops without distraction, what's your secret? :w3

I like the way the head is turn 180 degrees and buried it's bill into the plumage, but what with the eye open, and visible. The mottle plumage shows how ell it conceals itself in the undergrowth. Whites look OK with just a hint of detail. Can I assume it's lichen on the rock, perhaps a drop in Exp may help to tone things down a fraction and selectively applied? I'm not sure if a sliver could be cropped off the top, or just extend the LHS a bit more? If you need advice on applying the crop tool let me know.

Techs look good and nice to see you have some SS to. :w3

TFS
Steve

[Holger Leyrer]

Stunning image, love the pose and colors.
in my eyes the BG is not smooth (i don't know the english words)

[nick clayton]

Super pose and background, I love the colours of the bird and how they compliment the rock Keith.

[gail bisson]

Hi Keith,
I have to say I am not loving this one.
I find the BG green/yellow overwhelming and see some posterization in the BG as well as a weird splotchy area below the tail. If this was mine I would go to Hue/Saturation and decrease the green or yellow in the BG.
I would trim a bit off the bottom and selectively decrease the exposure and/or brightness of the lichens on the rock. I would like a bit more room on the right for the virtual head/beak to have room to move into if the bird was to look forward.
I love the fact that you got such a clear shot of the snipe and like the tucked in pose with the wayward feather and open eye.
I think the details in the head/eye area are a bit coarse. Perhaps this is due to too much sharpening or perhaps the focus point was more on the shoulder?
I think this image could really shine with a few tweaks and would love to see a repost,
Gail

[Iain Barker]

Hi Keith

Well done on capturing this snipe out in the open. Round here it is very rare to find one that isn't hidden away in vegetation.
Other who have commented are a lot more experienced than me on processing so i can't really add anything there.

TFS
Iain

[John Robinson]

Bird is spot on but in my un experienced opinion the level the background and lichen covered post is a bit over the top,- but easily rectified. But if you want the pic to look like this then leave it "as is "
JR

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Wow Keith, shot at 300 mm?!

That definitely shows some of the less appreciated skill of knowing your subject to get close. I may burn the perch just a tad, but otherwise it's great as is.

[keith mitchell]

Thanks for your comments and tips. Gail I have dropped the yellow a bit but must admit I do like to make full use of the Meadow Bg which are full of Buttercups and Kingcups ,sorry I can't see ( well as a weird splotchy area below the tail)but that could be down to these old eyes of mine:2eyes2: much appreciate your take on this image.

[Steve Kaluski]

Keith it's certainly a step in the right direction and I prefer the more 'toned down' colouring of the backdrop. The 'perch' is for me a little too contrasty now I think, needs to be a little softer I feel?

Perhaps we can do some simple exercises over the winter to pull some of this together, your getting some cracking images from your hard work and time out in the field, so lets see if we can maximise them. Hope to see the hare at some point too. :bg3:

[gail bisson]

I think the BG looks excellent now. I would do a bit more NR or perhaps a slight gaussian blur to it.
The perch is a bit contrasty so would work on that and maybe see if you can pull some color out of it.
I still would like a bit more room on the right but like what you took off the bottom,
Gail

[keith mitchell]

Thanks Gail bit short of time at the moment so did rush it a bit and like yourself still a lot to learn on CS 5.

Keith.:S3:

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Keith, great advice from above. In some situations, even though you capture brilliant bright colours that were there at the time, toning them down ever so slightly normally produces a better result. I like the resting opose, open eye, and the feather detail stands out nicely. I would still take a bit more off the bottom, and although your BG looks better, you may have gone too far - maybe in-between the two. :w3

I did the same with my heron image above. The yellows in the foliage were quite bright, so I toned them down, and maybe also too much. :w3